Stocks take a beating
Shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange took a beating yesterday, pushing the index sharply lower to end below the 7,500 point mark amid lingering concerns over global economic fundamentals, dealers said.
Selling focused on large-cap stocks in both the high-tech and old economy sectors as investors attempted to profit in the futures market, where they had built up a large number of short-position contracts, they said.
The weighted index closed down 140.29 points, or 1.85 percent, at 7,451.72 — which represented the lowest level at the close since Sept. 7, when local share prices closed at 7,424.91 — on turnover of NT$81.79 billion (US$2.79 billion).
US trade delegation to visit
A delegation from the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) and other US agencies will visit the nation later this month to discuss a resumption of major trade talks between the two sides, a government official said yesterday.
The visit by the interagency group, mainly comprising USTR members and US Department of State representatives, is expected to pave the way for reopening talks on the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), said Bruce Linghu (令狐榮達), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of North American Affairs.
Issues likely to be discussed during the meeting with Taiwanese officials include the possibility of an agreement on investment protection and a free-trade agreement, as well as US support for Taiwan to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Linghu said.
No Toyota recall in Taiwan
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), the local agent for Japan-based Toyota Motor Corp, said yesterday that Toyota cars in Taiwan were unaffected by a massive recall announced a day earlier to fix malfunctioning power window switches.
Toyotas sold in Taiwan do not have the power window problem because they are made domestically by Kuozui Motors Ltd (國瑞汽車), Toyota’s manufacturer in Taiwan, an official at Hotai’s external affairs division said.
Toyota, Japan’s biggest automaker, said on Wednesday it was recalling 7.43 million vehicles worldwide, including certain models of the Yaris, Vios, Corolla, Matrix, Auris, Camry, RAV4 and Highlander made between 2005 and 2010.
Chunghwa profits fall 18.3%
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) said yesterday its profit fell 18.3 percent to NT$3.13 billion last month from a year earlier after operating expense grew 4.7 percent because of new retirement fee and rise in marketing spending.
In the first nine months, the nation’s largest telecoms company accumulated NT$30.96 billion, or NT$3.99 per share, in net profit, reaching 79 percent of its projected NT$39.18 billion for the whole of this year.
The nation’s No. 2 telecoms company, Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), posted NT$1.24 billion in net profit last month, down 11 percent year-on-year. That brought the January-September period net profits to NT$11.18 billion, or NT$4.16 a share, up 10 percent from the same period of last year, matching the company’s financial forecast.
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co’s (遠傳電信) net income was NT$1.03 billion last month and NT$8.18 billion, or NT$2.51 per share, for the first nine months, the company said in a separate statement.
NT dollar falls against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, declining NT$0.033 to close at NT$29.432.
Turnover totaled about US$681 million during the trading session.
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The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by